The Florida State Seminoles dismantled the Georgia Southern Eagles 98-69 Friday night. While the Seminoles spent the entirety of the game in the lead, Georgia Southern spent the first half fighting hard to keep themselves competitive in this one.
For the first half of the game, the Eagles were able to keep the game within reach, forcing a lot of mistakes out of the Seminoles offense. The team’s leading scorer being Shainen Carter, who provided 14 points, was one of only two double digit scorers for the Eagles. The main issue for Georgia Southern was certainly their efficiency, shooting 20-of-62 from the field for a 32.3% shooting percentage over the course of the game.
Despite maintaining a close score for the first half, Georgia Southern eventually fell behind to Florida State’s onslaught of three point attempts. Entering this game, the Seminoles lead the entire NCAA in three point attempts, averaging 36.5 attempts a game. This game was no different, as the Seminoles attempted 49 threes and shot 34.7% on those attempts. This sort of “air-raid” offense may be unconventional, but it has worked wonders for the Seminoles, allowing the team to breach 95 points for the third time this season.
The Seminoles struggled to get much offense together in the first half, but at the start of the second half, Lajae Jones caught fire with four three-pointers made in just four minutes of game time. Jones was a force to be reckoned with in this game as he took shot after shot, eventually culminating in 36 points with a total of ten three pointers made on the night. The ten three pointers by Jones also tied the program record for threes made, which was held by George McCloud and has stood the test of time since 1989.
The key moving forward for Florida State will be to play at the same level for all 40 minutes. Fortunately for the Noles, Georgia Southern was unable to fully punish the costly mistakes that were made, but there will certainly be teams that will be able to take advantage of such a slow start.
In regards to the play at the start of the game, FSU Coach Luke Loucks said “We have a standard, and that was so far below it. It was totally embarrassing.” Coach Loucks assured fans that the team felt his frustration on the matter, and that this would not be a reoccurring mistake from the Noles.
With this win, FSU improved to 4-1 in the Luke Loucks era. So far, this has been an encouraging season and they will look to continue this momentum as it progresses. The next test for Florida State will take place against the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners on November 25th. Tip-off is set for 7:00 PM EST.